{"product_id":"crossing-over-the-line-legislating-morality-and-the-mann-act-chicago-series-on-sexuality-history-and-society-paperback-9780226468709","title":"Crossing over the Line Legislating Morality and","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCrossing over the Line describes the folly of the Mann Act of 1910a United States law which made travel from one state to another by a man and a woman with the intent of committing an immoral act a major crime. Spawned by a national wave of white slave trade hysteria, the Act was created by the Congress of the United States as a weapon against forced prostitution. This book is the first history of the Mann Act's often bizarre career, from its passage to the amendment that finally laid it low. In David J. Langum's hands, the story of the Act becomes an entertaining cautionary tale about the folly of legislating private morality.   Langum recounts the colorful details of numerous court cases to show how enforcement of the Act mirrored changes in America's social attitudes. Federal prosecutors became masters in the selective use of the Act: against political opponents of the government, like Charlie Chaplin; against individuals who eluded other criminal charges, like the Capone mobster Ma","brand":"The University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49400030626135,"sku":"9780226468709","price":30.4,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780226468709.jpg?v=1730469497","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/crossing-over-the-line-legislating-morality-and-the-mann-act-chicago-series-on-sexuality-history-and-society-paperback-9780226468709","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}